Welcome to a bonus edition of my Blu-ray Bounty column, where I test the latest physical movie releases to see which make excellent showcases for your setup.
Normally the Bounty arrives at the end of the month, but to celebrate the Blu-ray’s 20th anniversary (June 20), I thought I’d check out a few discs released in 2026 that weren’t included in the Bounty Blu-ray the first time around. If you think I sound like I want an excuse to watch cool movies at work… well, no comment.
As usual, I’ll be using a setup consisting of one of the best OLED TVs of 2025, the LG G5, along with the Panasonic DP-UB820 which we consider to be the best 4K Blu-ray player on the market, as well as the Samsung HW-Q990C Dolby Atmos soundbar surround system.
As usual, I’m not reviewing the films themselves here, just the audio and video quality of the disc.
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
One battle after another tells the story of Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio), a washed-up revolutionary who lives off the grid with his daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti). He must face his past when his enemy Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn) resurfaces and his daughter disappears.
Visually, One battle after another is a gripping film. Textures are crisp throughout, looking both 3D and true to life. There are many high-contrast scenes that feature rich black tones with punchy highlights, especially during night scenes where strong shadows are cast. The colors are natural, with the green grass of the fields and the bright blue sky looking natural throughout the film.
With a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, this disc sounds fantastic. Explosions and gunshots have plenty of impact and power, demonstrating well-controlled bass tones. This balances well with the film’s more complex sound effects, such as the clicking of a gun’s chamber and light footsteps. The height channels are also well used, as army helicopters hover over the landscape, creating an immersive atmosphere.
Becoming Led Zeppelin (Sony Pictures Classics)
Becoming Led Zeppelin is a documentary that explores the origins of the iconic rock band, from the members’ youth to the band’s peak, including never-before-seen footage and modern-day interviews with the band.
Where else to start other than with audio? There are two soundtrack options: DTS-HD 5.1 MA and DTS-HD 2.0 MA. Played through our soundbar, the 5.1 mix sounded fantastic. When the good times, the bad times comes in, John Bonham’s pounding drums sound superb through the subwoofer: tightly controlled, detailed and meaty. The guitars of Jimmy Page and John-Paul Jones are refined, dynamic and complex. Finally, Plant’s vocals are clear, punchy and as powerful as one could hope for.
Other highlights include Baby, I’m going to leave you as the band recounts their first US tour in 1968, where Page’s delicate playing sounded clear and crisp and Plant’s haunting vocals were magnificent and soon after a live version of Communication breakdown raw, punchy and perfectly balanced sounds, with each instrument given the chance to breathe.
Visually, the disc is 4K SDR. While there isn’t much to show here, since most of the documentary is old footage and talking heads with the group, what is present is clean and shows a lot of detail. Some images have been nicely scaled and others have been intentionally grainy, but the presentation remains excellent overall.
It’s a lumbar puncture (Sony Pictures)
It’s a lumbar puncture is a mockumentary about the fictional rock band Spinal Tap during their 1982 American tour. The film stars Christopher Guest as Nigel Tufnel, Michel McKean as David St Hubbins and Harry Shearer as Derek Smalls. Rob Reiner directs and plays filmmaker Marty Di Bergi.
The film comes with two soundtracks DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0. The 5.1 mix sounds superb, especially during live concert sequences. The guitars are crisp and detailed, the drums and bass are meaty and provide a good workout for your subwoofer. The mix is extremely well balanced with a wide soundstage, giving each instrument ample space. Vocals are clear during live sections and speech is clear during dialogue scenes. The infamous “Stonehenge” scene in particular looks fantastic.
Visually, the film supports Dolby Vision and looks very good. The colors pack a lot of punch, from the loud and bright costumes of the band on stage to the more natural environments with bushes and trees, there is a very nice balance of colors. Dark tones are deep and rich and textures appear realistic. While it didn’t have the level of scaling I’ve seen in some films, the skin, hair, and clothing looked sharper. Movie fans will be pleased with the level of grain the film retains here, and while some scenes have more grain than others, it suits the film’s mockumentary style.
All the President’s Men (Warner Bros.)
All the President’s Men follows the story of two Washington Post journalists, Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) and Bob Woodward (Robert Redford), who investigate the Watergate scandal. The film is based on the non-fiction book of the same name.
All the President’s Men looks great in 4K. Watching in Dolby Vision, the picture is bright and detailed, with crisp textures throughout. The clothes and hair are refined and the colors are bold and vibrant, as evidenced by the brightly colored chairs and desks in the Washington Post office. The green trees and grass surrounding the courthouse look natural and impactful. Night scenes showing deep blacks with strong contrast, shown as cars drive through the city. There’s plenty of retained grain that moviegoers will be happy with, but there’s also some nice scaling.
The disc has a DTS-HD 2.0 soundtrack and throughout the film, speech is clear with good detail. Subtle effects such as radios and voices on a telephone and the scratching of a reporter’s pencil contain a good amount of detail. While there’s nothing to really highlight your sound system like you would in an action-packed blockbuster, it’s a great overall soundtrack.
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